Though a child may find their stuffed animal to be the most special of all, it is no secret that before they came home they were just one of thousands, mass produced and sitting on a toy store shelf. There's no life to them then, dull plastic eyes and pristine stitching, stuffing never slept on or cuddled. Still you may find them cute--that's how they get to go home--
but truly, they are nothing special.
When Ruffian came home to Liddi he was just that way--she had picked him out for his potential, and her childish hand loved to stroke his soft, satiny fur marked with a red-orange glow. His green fur was special as well, its texture more like felt. She took Ruffian everywhere, carrying him in cars and on trains, on buses and through the sky on airplanes. They saw many places together and "Ruffy," as she affectionately called him, loved them all, even if he did get dropped on the sand at the beach or rained on in a mountain thunderstorm.
Once, Liddi accidentally left him behind in a grocery store, and her mother searched up and down every aisle to find him, tucked behind a package of chocolate chip cookies. She got the cookies, too, and Liddi did her best never to let Ruffy out of her sight again. Every night she fell asleep with her trusty puppy by her pillow, the king of all her other plushies. When Liddi was in middle school she sewed patches onto his shoulders and hips in home economics to cover patches where she had petted him too much. The stitches were slightly clumsy as she learned, but Ruffy loved anything that made him more unique.
Unfortunately for Ruffian, Liddi had to grow up. Though she never got rid of him, they had fewer adventures and he no longer got to see the world while dangling by his tail from her hand. He missed that, even though his ear had ripped where it dragged against the ground, and there was a tear in his tail from it always holding his entire weight all the time. She took him to college with her and he sat on her desk, king of a much smaller number of plushies. He wanted to bark and growl at Liddi's friends when they teased her about her stuffed animals, but unfortunately, he was still just a toy.
Ruffy was excited when Liddi started packing her things at the end of the school year, wanting to see where the next adventure would lead them. She placed him high up on her bunkbed while she finished, stuffing her things into suitcases haphazardly and quickly. Nothing seemed to fit right. Ruffy watched from above as Liddi hurried out of the dorm room, the door shutting behind her with a snap. He was alone.
Hours passed, and Ruffy looked expectantly toward the door, waiting for Liddi to return, but she never came. He remembered the time in the grocery store, and how Liddi had never left him again. It had been bound to happen eventually, but he was so sad that the day had finally come. While he was reminiscing a strange girl came in, lifting him from his perch and taking him into an office where he was stuffed in a file cabinet, in the dark. Ruffy was so, so lonely. He thought a lot, more thoughts than he had ever had in his entire plushie life. He didn't know why Liddi had left him after all their years together, and he knew he would do anything to win back her affection.
Something changed in Ruffy, and he felt his eyes sparkle and shine in the darkness of the drawer. He tried to lift a paw, experimentally, and to his utter shock, it worked! He walked around in tight, confined space, testing his new powers. Then, for the first time in months, he felt the drawer start to open. He froze, not wanting to let on to anyone about his new abilities.
"Here you go," a voice said, but it was not talking to Ruffy. Hands lifted him from the drawer, carrying him through the air and placing him on a counter. When Ruffy looked up, he was shocked to see Liddi, with a huge smile on her face. He heard the owner of the voice walk away as he was grabbed up in a tight hug.
"Oh, Ruffy!" Liddi whispered into his soft head. "I missed you so much! I'm sorry I forgot you... and then I couldn't come back until school started again. I promise I'll never leave you alone again," she said, and carried Ruffy carefully out of the office.
They went to a new home, a bigger place with more space, and Liddi had her own room. Now, no one could tease her about her plushies. As soon as the door was closed Ruffy leaped from her arms, startling a gasp from Liddi. She stared as he walked across the bed, testing his new abilities in the larger space. Liddi knelt down carefully, meeting his newly lively eyes. "Ruffy?" she said. He barked, a strange sound coming from an animal made of stuffing, but Liddi didn't care. She clapped her hands and squealed, hugging him again. "We're going to go on so many more adventures," she told him.
THE END
gradient, uses green, and (unintentionally) has light stripes like some users pointed out
